Samuele Cortese publishes his debut Mental Elf blog on a meta-analysis of n-of-1 trials, which shows that amphetamine derivatives and methylphenidate are superior to placebo, in the short term, for paediatric ADHD.
[read the full story...]Pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in severe mental illness
Andrew Jones reports on a recent systematic review and network meta-analysis of the efficacy and tolerability of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation in severe mental illness, which finds a promising but low quality result for bupropion and varenicline.
[read the full story...]The harms of psychotherapy: are BME and LGBT communities more at risk?
Keith Laws and Samei Huda mull over a recent national survey looking at patients experiences of the harms of psychotherapy. The study reports that both black and minority ethnic people and lesbian, gay and bisexual people reported higher rates of long-lasting negative effects of psychotherapy.
[read the full story...]What do you want from your psychiatric medication?
John Baker presents a systematic review of preferences for medication-associated outcomes in mental disorders, which concludes that we just don’t know what value mental health service users place on the different outcomes that come from taking psychiatric medication.
[read the full story...]Commonly prescribed psychiatric drugs: do they work?
John Baker summarises a review of commonly prescribed medication that covers seven psychiatric drugs, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, methylphenidate and cholinesterase inhibitors.
[read the full story...]Antidepressants: benefits and harms in children and adults
Samei Huda discusses the findings of a recent review into suicidality and aggression during antidepressant treatment. The systematic review and meta-analyses were based on clinical study reports and included some important adverse effects of antidepressants in children and young people.
[read the full story...]Is the NICE guideline for bipolar disorder biased in favour of psychosocial interventions?
Guy Goodwin reviews a new paper in the Lancet Psychiatry by Jauhar, McKenna and Laws, that calls into question the trustworthiness of the NICE bipolar disorder guidance.
[read the full story...]Aripiprazole for treatment-resistant depression in older adults
Sarsha Wilson publishes her debut blog about a recent RCT on the efficacy, safety and tolerability of augmentation pharmacotherapy with aripiprazole for treatment-resistant depression in later life.
[read the full story...]Rivastigmine for Alzheimer’s: is a small cognitive ‘improvement’ worth the risk of feeling physically unwell?
Rosalyn Nelson presents the latest Cochrane systematic review of Rivastigmine for Alzheimer’s disease, which brings together the results of 7 industry sponsored or funded trials, and concludes that Rivastigmine may be of benefit to people with Alzheimer’s disease.
[read the full story...]What impact are psychotropic drugs having on our physical health?
John Baker summarises the findings of a recent review of people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. The study looks at the adverse effects on physical health of psychotropic drugs (antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilisers).
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